1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to article holding and dispensing containers and a method of opening these article holding and dispensing containers and, more particularly, to a medication or tablet holding and dispensing package which permits visual examination of each discrete article or tablet contained therein and a method for opening this package.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Blister-type medication dispensers have achieved great acceptance in the field of pharmaceutical packaging. Various types of blister-type pill dispensers are illustrated in Design Patent No. 237 864 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,054,503, 3,380,578, 3,503,493, 3,933,245, 4,158,411, 4,371,080, 4,429,792, 4,574,954 and 4,850,489.
A common method of removing the medication from the prior art blister packages requires the use of a downward pressure applied to an upper surface of the blister thereby forcing the medication against a rupturable substrate which results in the rupturing of the substrate and the egress of the medication from the blister package. This method of removing the medication from the blister package is unsatisfactory when the medicament is highly friable. The forcing of the contact of the medicament with the rupturable substrate may result in the medicament crumbling and the loss of quantities of medication during its removal from the blister pack. Therefore, there is a need to provide a blister pack for frangible medication which can be opened without using the frangible medication as the primary means for rupturing the rupturable substrate making up the blister package and thereby avoiding the crumbling of the friable medication.